Peter Akadoronge, a Nigerian, has been sentenced by a Johannesburg magistrate court for repeated rape and trafficking of three ladies from Limpopo, South Africa, after luring them with employment offers.

On Tuesday, Akadoronge, 37, bagged five life terms and another five years for crimes that happened in Thohoyandou on November 26, 2017.

South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) revealed that he and two other Nigerian men lured three unemployed women by posing as placement workers.

According to a report by News24, the NPA said, “Three women went in search of work when they were approached by three Nigerian men with offers of employment.”

One of the ladies recommended that they go to a nearby nightclub to discuss the offers. At the club, the men ordered them beverages that were drugged, which made them unconscious. When they regained consciousness, they noticed they were in an unfamiliar environment.

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“They testified that they found themselves in a room with two unknown ladies. The room had no windows, except for one mattress that was on the floor. The two ladies informed them that they were in Rosettenville, Johannesburg,” Phindi Mjonondwane, NPA spokesperson, was quoted to have said.

Mjonondwane stated that the three guys told their victims that they had found the jobs they sought, which required them to sell their bodies.

When the ladies said they would not sell their bodies, their captors hit and ordered them to strip naked, according to Mjonondwane. The victims reportedly testified that they were raped as part of their indoctrination into their new jobs and were forced to consume narcotics on a regular basis while in confinement.

Other men were brought in to have sexual relations with the victims after paying some fee to their abductors, and they were beaten and deprived of food if they refused to have sex with these men, said NPA.

As time went by, the Nigerians started trusting their victims and would leave them unguarded in the yard. However, on May 9, 2018, the women managed to escape and stopped a vehicle that took them to Moffatview Police Station.

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They were taken to a centre by the Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offenses Unit, where they were counselled, assessed by physicians, and treated for drug addiction.

The following day, detective Armstrong Ndlala accompanied them to Rosettenville in pursuit of the suspects, and they were able to identify Akadoronge, who was found among eight other guys next to a streetlight.

Akadoronge was detained, and he stayed in detention until his case was concluded.

“State advocate Colleen Ryan argued that Akadoronge came as a visitor in South Africa and chose to disregard the laws of this country,” the NPA was quoted to have said.

The government has passed several laws to combat gender-based violence, according to magistrate Simon Radasi who heard the case, yet the offences persisted unabated.

“Women have a legitimate claim to walk freely in our streets without fear of being abducted. The courts must remove people that are of danger to society out of circulation for very long periods to send a clear message that our justice system frowns upon such inhumane acts,” Radasi said.